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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24129484">You Make Me Happy, Which Makes Me Sick</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/gxenbev/pseuds/gxenbev'>gxenbev</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>That '70s Show</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Cuddling, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Late Night Conversations, Relationship Doubt, Relationship Study, Spooning, eric forman's basement, they should have been endgame</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 16:40:08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,619</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24129484</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/gxenbev/pseuds/gxenbev</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A look into the sentimental side of Jackie and Hyde's relationship. Jackie enters the basement in the middle of the night with a question for Hyde.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Jackie Burkhart/Steven Hyde</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>131</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>You Make Me Happy, Which Makes Me Sick</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is my first T7S fic. I really love this show and Jackie and Hyde definitely should have been endgame, so enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Somedays, Hyde thinks about what Edna would say if she saw him sitting with Jackie Burkhart in his lap. She would scoff, he’s certain of that. She would be appalled that someone like him ended up with a girl as expensive as Jackie. Hyde wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to find the words to describe their relationship to the woman he hoped he never saw again.</p>
<p>Jackie didn’t ask about Edna and Hyde never offered any information. It was a forbidden topic, just like most things that involved talking from the heart. Hyde wondered if those conversations would only drive them apart, and he didn’t want to risk losing Jackie again. He missed the way her arms were always slung around his neck and the clicking of her heels against the basement floor. He missed her wide eyes and snarky remarks and he kept asking himself, why?</p>
<p>Jackie was totally wrong for him. He always thought he’d end up with a girl who was the opposite of self-centered, who was carefree and less proper. A girl who was as impulsive as he. But instead, he ended up with a brat perched on his lap and he found himself surprisingly happy, which made him sick.</p>
<p>How could he be happy with Jackie? Hyde didn’t want to be happy with Jackie. He didn’t want to know that his standards for himself could drop so low. Yet somehow, he had to hide his smile around her. Nobody else made him want to smile as she did.</p>
<p>These thoughts kept him up at night. The hours he spent without her were filled with thoughts of her that plagued Hyde’s mind. He ran a hand through his hair and flipped over onto his stomach before shooting up and out of bed. A crashing noise echoed through the basement. Carefully, Hyde flicked on the light switch and grabbed the old baseball bat stashed among the piles of boxes in his room.</p>
<p>“Steven?” Jackie’s voice rang out through the dark.</p>
<p>“Jackie? What the fuck are you doing here?” he asked. He walked out of his bedroom and turned on the basement light. Jackie laid sprawled across the floor, wearing her flannel pajamas and clutching at her face.</p>
<p>“I’m sorry, Steven. I shouldn’t have come,” she mumbled, pushing herself off the ground and stepping around the Lego Millenium Falcon she previously tripped over.</p>
<p>“Jackie, why did you come here?” Hyde asked, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.</p>
<p>“Look, I’m sorry. I said I was leaving. I just couldn’t sleep and I was worried, so I came here to talk to you.”</p>
<p>“Did you consider that it's two in the morning and I would be asleep?” he asked, too tired to be anything but sarcastic.</p>
<p>Jackie didn’t say anything and headed to the door, but the silence set Hyde on edge. Never had he known Jackie to be silent.</p>
<p>“Jackie, wait,” he said when he heard the door creak open. “Come here.”</p>
<p>Jackie shut the door and walked over to Hyde, who wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders. “Come on, let's go to bed. You need to sleep, and then you can explain why you’re breaking and entering in the middle of the night.”</p>
<p>Jackie smiled and followed Hyde into the bedroom, allowing him to pull her into his chest once they laid down.</p>
<p>She always slept better when she was with Hyde, but her thoughts were plagued with questions similar to the ones her boyfriend was thinking about earlier in the night. How did she end up with someone like Steven Hyde? She always imagined herself with someone who had money, was proper and polite, and could appreciate music other than rock ‘n roll. Instead, she found herself with a boy who was quite frankly gross, would most likely be in prison within the next few years, and was orphaned and poor. And despite all of this, she was happy, and that happiness made her sick.</p>
<p>“You’re not asleep, are you?” Hyde whispered. His hand found hers under the blanket and held it tight. Jackie liked tired Hyde, who was always more affectionate during the night.</p>
<p>“No,” she whispered back.</p>
<p>“Why are you here?” he asked. The question wasn’t interrogating or negative. His voice was soft and Jackie sighed.</p>
<p>“Are you happy?” she asked hesitantly. She knew it was a question that needed to be asked, but she was terrified of the answer. She and Hyde never talked about how they felt unless they were teasing the other or arguing about something or another.</p>
<p>Hyde was silent and Jackie was nervous. The arm holding her to him loosened and Jackie wanted to bolt and forget the conversation even happened. Before she could up and run, Hyde whispered, “yes.”</p>
<p>“Really?” Jackie asked, surprised he said anything at all.</p>
<p>Hyde’s arm tightened around her again and she could feel his smile. “Yeah, really. Is that what you came all the way over here to ask?”</p>
<p>Jackie turned in his arms until her face was buried in his chest and Hyde couldn’t see her face. “I was scared, you know. I mean, we both know I’m pretty-” she began before Hyde’s laughter cut her off.</p>
<p>“Oh, stop it,” she said, hitting his arm. “Let me finish. We both know I’m pretty, but what else do I have going for me. You called me a bitch every day when I was dating Kelso, and I don’t know if I’ve changed enough for you to think otherwise. Why me?”</p>
<p>The question hung there for a moment too long and the pressure to get up and run returned. Jackie lifted her head to meet Hyde’s eyes, who was already looking at her with an expression she’d never seen grace his face. He looked sympathetic, almost sorry.</p>
<p>“Jackie, I wouldn’t date you if I didn’t like you. I also won’t lie to you, you make me happy, but I don’t know why. You’re the polar opposite of what I expected, but I love you. You surprised me and now you’re a leech that I just can’t get rid of.”</p>
<p>Jackie managed a smile and Hyde pressed a reassuring kiss to her forehead before continuing. “Sometimes I wonder why I love you, and then you do things like this. You come here in the middle of the night to make sure I’m happy. You care what I think. Remember the day I fell off the water tower and you rushed to the hospital? You could have waited to see me the next day but you came in such a hurry that you wore shoes that didn’t match your outfit, and you still kissed me even when I had to wear the godawful neck brace.”</p>
<p>Jackie’s arms circled around Hyde’s waist. He pressed his face to the top of her hair and held her close, enjoying the rare moment of peaceful silence. Jackie was special. She was everything he used to hate that he learned to love.</p>
<p>“Jackie, I don’t fit your typical taste in guys, either. What about me makes you want to stick around?”</p>
<p>Jackie sighed because she really didn’t want to say. She didn’t want to make Hyde mad, especially when she was really enjoying the comforting proximity. But, Hyde shared something personal with her, and the least she could do was return the favor.</p>
<p>“Okay, well, don’t be mad, okay?” she asked. Hyde nodded but his face told her he was skeptical. “I was having fun at first when we were just making out because it was wrong and dirty. It was fun when it was a secret we had to keep, but then I started to feel bad. You deserve love so bad, Steven, and I wanted to be able to give you the love you deserve. I didn’t want to ditch you and have you feel like I just took advantage of you, so I stayed out of sympathy. I know you hate that, but the more time we spent together, the more I started to realize I could trust you. Your arms felt like a safety net and I started realizing things about myself that I didn’t have to notice before.”</p>
<p>Hyde’s expression softened and his eyes urged her on. “I realized you deserve someone who’s not a bitch, and I try to be kinder. You make me better, and you make me happy, and I love you for it.”</p>
<p>“I love you, too,” Hyde whispered.</p>
<p>Jackie wanted to leave kisses all over his face. Hyde never threw around the L-Word, and when he did, it was usually to make up for a fight. Jackie could feel the meaning behind the words. She wanted nothing more but to stay wrapped up in his arms forever, where she could feel safe and loved and not have to worry about a single thing. Here, she had the reassurance that everything would eventually be okay.</p>
<p>The bed was warm and the feelings were high. In these conditions, Jackie didn’t have a chance of staying awake. Her breathing evened out and her grip on Hyde slowly loosened. Hyde stayed awake, though. He watched her fall asleep and thought about how much he loved her and how inconceivable their relationship must be to everyone else. Did they see a different Jackie than he did? He wanted this Jackie all to himself. The sentimental, actual feeling version of the girl he loved.</p>
<p>When Hyde did fall asleep, it was the first night in a long time in which his mind was clear of all paranoia and worries. Jackie’s deep breaths lulled him to sleep and the knowledge that she’d still be there in the morning was his last thought before drifting off.</p>
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